lehmann



UNITED; STATES,

N FFIQEP anonr' nnnnknn, on NEW YORK, N. 1'.

CA s-coh un (3 SPECIFICATION forming, part of Letters Patent 288,07dated November 6, 1883.

Application tiled September 7, 1883. (N model.) i M H v I Toall when zitnmgconcegn; H

Be it known that. LADOLQLEHMANN, of the city, county, and saa rnew York,have inventedcertain new and usefullmprovements' in Gar-Couplings, ofwhich the following specification.

This inventionhas reference to improve ments incar-couplings of thatclass inwhich the draw-bars of the cars are aummamany eoupled withoutthe use of the common coup ling pin and link; and the invention'consistsof a spring cushioned draw-bar which, s1ip ports between itstopandbottom plates 'acen;

trally-pivoted and laterally-oscillating" block,

:5 that is provided. at. one side of its centerjline withalaterally-swinging couplingdink havmg a spherical head, and at the otherside thereof with a cavity for the headed link of the opposite draw-bar,said link being retained in locking-j aw that is operated by a suit-ableuncoupling chain-and-lever mechanism from the platform side or top ofthe car.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a bottom view of twocars connected by my improved coupling, one of the drawheads being shownwith parts broken away; Figs. 2 and 3 are end views of the coupling andof the mechanism for uncoupling the drawbar. Fig. 4 is-a detail sectionof one of the draw-heads, showing it coupled with a common pin and link.Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section of the draw-head on line a: m,Fig. l; and Figs. .6 and 7 are details, respectively, of thecoupling-link and of the sliding jaw for locking the link to thedraw-head.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding. parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a draw-bar which is supportedand guided in the usual manner on the bottom frame of the-car andcushioned in either direction by strong spiral springs applied to theshank of the draw-bar, as shown clearly in Fig. 1.

than the shank and made open at both sides, so that betweenthehorizontal top and bottom plates of the same space is obtained for alaterally-movable block, B. The frontv end of 5c the block 13, as wellas the' front edges of the top and bottom plates. of the draw'head A,

are made arcshaped, so that these parts can said cavity by a sliding andspring actuated The head A of the draw-barA is made wider move alongeach other withoutinterference when the cars are rounding curve's.

The segmental blockB is pivoted at its rear "end bya vertical pin, 12,to the draw-headA,

head." i

The block B is provided at one side of its,

so as'jto" swing to either side thereof; The sides: of the block 13 areconnected, by chains d 1 andspiral springs d, or other equivalent devices, to points at opposite sides of the car movedto one side or theother in the draw-' center line with a vertical recess,c, into which isplaced a shank of a coupling-link, (J, which" shank is hinged by ahorizontal pin, 6, to as block B. The end of the link 0 is provided withan enlarged head, G, that is preferably At the opposite side of ofspherical shape.

the center'line of the block B is arranged a' nearly-circular cavity, f,which is large enough:

to admit the spherical head of the link of the draw-head of the nextadjoining car. One side of thecavity f is made straight, so as to guidea locking bar or jaw, D, thatis arranged parallel to the center line ofthe segmental block B. The shank D passes through asuitable opening inthe rear partof the block to the outside thereof, and is cushioned by aspiral spring, 9, that is interposed between a shoulder of the shank anda guide-plate of the block B. y

The rear end of the shank of the lockingjaw D is connected by anintermediate chain, h, to a ful'crumed lever, h, that is operated by aconnecting lever mechanism from the side, platform, or top of the car,-so that the lockingjaw can be withdrawn, and thereby the head of thecoupling-link 0 released.

7 hen the cars approach each other, the heads of their coupling-links O0 enter into the respective cavities Z1 1) of the blocks B of thedraw-heads, and push the longitudinallysliding locking-jaws D backwardagainst the tension of their springs until the heads 0 G are entirelywithin the cavities b b. The locking-jaws D are then forced forward bythe action of their springs, so as to bind on the heads ofthecoupling-disks G G and lock them into the cavities of the blocks B.The jaws D D prevent the links 0 from being withdrawn from the cavitiesuntil they are released by 2 esaom withdrawing the locking-j aws bymeans of the uncoupling-lever mechanism described.

To facilitate the coupling of the links with the jaws D of the blocks13, thelinks as well 5 as the jaws may be provided with anti-frictionrollers, as shown in Figs. (Sand 7 ,whereby the friction is considerablyreduced. The side wall of the cavity f may be grooved or concave, asshown in Fig. 5,whereby a better grip 10 on the spherical head of thecoupling link is .obtained.

WVhen it is desired to couple the draw-heads with the commom pin andlink, a couplingpin,E, is applied to holes 3 t of the top and I 5 bottomplates of'the draw-head and to a coupling-link, E; For this purposethesegmental block is thrown sidewise,which may be either inverted intothe cavity f or entirely out of the way of the coupling-link, asindicatedin dot- 2o ted lines in Fig. 4. In this manner a car pro videdwith my improved automatic coupling may be readily coupled with carshaving the old style of pin and ,link.

The advantages of my improved car-coup- 2 5 ling are: first, that thecoupling of the drawheads is automatically accomplished on the approachof the cars by the simple entering of the links into the correspondingcavities of the segmental blocks; secondly, that the coupling-links bythe pivoted segmental blocks of the draw-heads have a lateral play bywhich the cars can readily round curves without any objectionable strainon the couplings; and, thirdly that the coupling-links have a slight 3 5up-and-down movement, so as to provide for the vertical vibrations ofthe cars; and, lastly, that a reliable and effective double coupling isaccomplished.

Havingthus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 40 1. The combination of a spring-cushioned draw-bar,having an enlarged draw-head open at its sides, a segmental blockpivoted to said draw-head, said block having at one side of its center ahinged coupling-link with enlarged 5 head, and at the other side acircular cavity and a longitudinally-sliding and spring-actuated lockingbar or jaw, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a spring-cushioned 5o draw-bar, having an enlargeddraw-headopen I at the sides, an intermediate segmental block pivoted tothe draw-head, a coupling-link with an enlarged head hinged at one sideof the center line of the block, a circular cavity ar- 5 5 ranged at theother side of the block, a long"- tudinally-sliding and spring-cushionedlook ing bar orjaw, arranged at one side of the circular cavity, and achain and-lever mechanism connected to the rear end of the lockingbar,so as to move the same in backward direction for uncoupling the'link,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in pres- '65 ence of two subscribing witnesses. ADOLF LEHMANN.

Witnesses: l

PAUL GOEPEL, SIDNEY MANN.

